WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/ATG/3 
23 August 2005 
 (05-3718) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
 
If applicable, name of local government involved:   
2. Agency responsible:  Ministry of Health, Sports and Youth Affairs – Central Board of 
Health  
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where applicable):  “Food”… any substance whether processed, semi-processed or raw, which is 
intended for use as food or drink for human be ings, and includes a food source, agricultural 
input, plants and micro-organisms that ma y be used as food, chewing gum, and any 
ingredient that may be mixed with food for any purpose whatever but does not include 
cosmetics, tobacco or substances used only as drugs.  
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected , to the extent relevant or practicable:  
Antigua and Barbuda a nd its trading partners  
5. Title, language and number of p ages of the notified document:  Food Safety Act, 2004 
(English, 56 pages)  
6. Description of content:   
This Bill proposes to regulate the sale of food by Food Businesses , which produce, process, 
manufacture or otherwise handle food, including street vending, as well as import and export food into or from Antigua and Barbuda. The aim of regulating Food Businesses is to protect human food and food sources from “food hazards”, “food safety risks,” and “food borne diseases.” 
 
This Bill is divided into ten parts, namely:  PART I  Preliminary PART II Administration and Enforcement 
PART III Inspection, Seizure and Forfeiture 
PART IV Registration and Licensing Requirements PART V Standards PART VI Import and Export of Food PART VII Food Hazards and Food Borne Diseases 
PART VIII Offences and Penalties 
PART IX Regulations and Orders PART X Miscellaneous and Supplemental    G/SPS/N/ATG/3 
Page 2  
 
 Part V of the Bill deals with Standards. Clause 23 empowers the Food Authority to make 
standards for food businesses, food facilities a nd equipment used in connection with such 
businesses, in consultation with the Bureau of Standards.  Clause 23 (2) mandates that the 
standards incorporate international safety cr iteria agreed by Antigua and Barbuda. Under 
Clause 23 (4) the National Food Safety Committ ee will review all standards made before 
they are published. 
 Under Clause 24, Operators of Businesses will,  after the commencement of this Act, be 
required to submit to the Food Authority, a "Notice of Intention To Import/ Export Food" into or out of Antigua and Barbuda.  The notice is set out as Form l in the Fourth Schedule. 
If the notice relates to a particular importation, it should be accompanied by a Certificate of 
Compliance from the country of origin.  The signed written contract be tween the exporter in 
the country of origin and the importer in Anti gua and Barbuda must also be presented to the 
Food Authority.  
If the notice of intention relates to a partic ular food export from Antigua and Barbuda, such 
notice of intention must be accompanied by a written confirmation from the relevant Food 
Authority in the importing country.  Clause 27 spells out the functions of the F ood Authority in those instances where food 
samples are taken and sent to an analyst.  Where the results of analysis prove that the food is 
in compliance with the provisions of the law, the Food Authority is required to give notice 
to the Customs Division, the Exporter or Importer as the case may be, and to afterwards order the release of the food for importation or exportation.  If the sample results indicate that the food do es not comply with the requirements of this 
law, then the Food Authority is required to i ssue a "Notice of Detention" to the Customs 
Division, and to the Importer or Exporter, as the case may be, advising the agencies of the 
detention of the food until the condition specifi ed in the Notice of Detention is met to the 
satisfaction of the Food Authority.  A copy of a Notice of Detention is set out in the Fifth Schedule to this Act. 
 
Clause 28 is a penalty clause and Importers or Exporters of food into or out of Antigua and Barbuda who contrave ne the provisions of this Act will, after summary conviction, be fined, 
imprisoned or be both fined and imprisoned. 
 
Clause 29 gives the Minister the power to publish in the Gazette  some categories of foods, 
which usually require inspection by an Insp ector on importation into Antigua and Barbuda 
or before exportation from Antigua and Barbuda.  The Bill provides under Clause 32 that, within si x months of the commencement of this Act 
and forty-five days after the end of each year, every person who imports or exports food 
should submit a report to the Food Authority on  their activities for the previous calendar 
year. The report should include food shipments,  quantities of food imported or exported, a 
summary of incidents or accidents regarding food, and some indication of foods imported which did not meet with the statutory requirements of the importing country.  
7. Objective and rationale: [  X ] food safety,  [    ] animal health,  [    ] plant protection, 
[ X ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [    ] protect territory from 
other damage from pests    G/SPS/N/ATG/3 
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8. International standard, guideline or recommendation: 
[ X ] Codex Alimentarius Commission,  [  ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention,  [   ] None If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:   
NOTE:
    The Codex Alimentarius - Food Hygien e Basic Texts were used as a reference for 
drafting this document.  
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:   
Draft Food Safety Act, 2004 (56 pages, English) 
10. Proposed date of adoption:  January 2006  
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  January 2006  
12. Final date for comments:  25 November 2005 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [    ] National notification 
authority, [  X ] National enquiry point, or add ress, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body:   
sps.enquiries@antigua.gov.ag   
Other body:    
Chief Health Inspector, Central Board of Health 
E-mail: cbh_chi@yahoo.com  ,   Fax:  + 268 460-5992,   Tel:  + 268 462-2936  
13. Texts available from:  [    ] National notification authority, [  X ] National enquiry 
point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:   
sps.enquiries@antigua.gov.ag   
Other body:    
Chief Health Inspector, Central Board of Health 
E-mail: cbh_chi@yahoo.com  ,   Fax:  + 268 460-5992,   Tel:  + 268 462-2936